Help with faith based VPP

[Guest Worldmaker]

Re: Help with faith based VPP

 

Well it probably means either:

a) those spells don't come directly from the God,

or

the God doesn't mind/doesn't care about the supposed heresy.

 

 

The latter. For the most part, the deities in my setting just want the worship. As long as the individual worshippers don't get too out of hand (meaning, as long as base principles aren't violated, like a God of Mercy's followers suddenly going medieval on people), a disagreement about doctrine doesn't even show up on their radar.

 

 

Some gods might present different facets. In fact' date=' for more dynamic gods I've often run with this. Back in my greyhawk days I used Erythnul and a few other gods who I identified as being spin offs / aspects of him in this way -> same underlying diety w/ various fronts.[/quote']

 

 

I do this as well. I've got a healer deity who is seen as the kindly mother-figure by the Imperials and as an almost ruthless "cut the cancer before it can affect the body" male enforcer by my Viking-clone barbarians, but they are all the same god.

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: Help with faith based VPP

 

Some gods might present different facets. In fact' date=' for more dynamic gods I've often run with this. Back in my greyhawk days I used Erythnul and a few other gods who I identified as being spin offs / aspects of him in this way [/quote']

 

3e D&D gave each deity four domains of influence, and each cleric selected two of these as the ones from which he would draw domain spells. I always liked the idea of defining each of the 6 possible combinations as 6 broad churches dedicated to the deity in different ways, focusing on two aspects and neglecting the other two. Some sects would be friendly, others hostile.

[DusterBoy]

Re: Help with faith based VPP

 

I once came up with Marthona, a kind of wild, naked mother goddess and so old school that she actually has horns. She usually presents a kind, loving aspect, empowering people to be self-confident, life-affirming and comfortable in their skin, but she can switch to stern and angry in an eyeblink if people don't act with respect and compassion (etc) towards each other and that includes the worshippers of other gods, which can get her into trouble with her peer deities. However, she has enough physical and divine power to protect her worshippers and more than hold her own in such confrontations.

 

However, she also has the aspect of the Death Crone, since she also represents the connection between life and death. She functions as a psychopomp and a comforter of the bereaved and teaches mortals not to be afraid of death and to make the most of their lives whilst they have them.

 

She is usually naked, but can clothe herself in robes of light and summon what accoutrements she deems necessary. She is very informal, not liking rites and ceremonies, preferring a much more personal relationship with mortals, especially those who actively worship her. She is normally accompanied by a raven, owl or dog.

 

And yes, she spends much of her time with people, acting as a teacher and a healer, of minds as well as bodies.

[Kristopher]

Re: Help with faith based VPP

 

Something I was going to ask, and it seems that some have touched on, is whether the magic of priests comes from the gods or from the faith of the caster, in your particular setting, or both, JmOz.

[JmOz]

Re: Help with faith based VPP

 

Something I was going to ask' date=' and it seems that some have touched on, is whether the magic of priests comes from the gods or from the faith of the caster, in your particular setting, or both, JmOz.[/quote']

 

All magic in my world comes from the gods.

 

When it comes to the blessed* it is basicaly that the gods are very interested in the character for some reason and are more likely to listen to there requests for help.

 

I plan on having different levels of blessed, starting with a Faith Roll, moving up to a luck based system (I have a luck system I use), finaly winding up at the VPP level

 

* Priests are not necesarily the only ones who can use this type of spellcasting, nor do all priests have it, most actualy do not, but it will be more common among the type of priests players play and encounter

[Alcamtar]

Re: Help with faith based VPP

 

Having said that I am having a bit of trouble with the modeling of the "You pray for what you need then the god decides on how he will answer you"

 

I would use the Uncontrolled limitation on the VPP itself. The character can pray, but the GM decides if and when and how the prayer is answered. The player cannot invoke his own VPP voluntarily and has no control over it at all. The size of the VPP represents the strength of the character's faith -- bigger faith expects and gets bigger miracles. With this build I don't think I'd use a Faith Roll at all. The GM simply decides. I'd also use an END reserve that recovers only when the character spends time in prayer and meditation, or whatever is appropriate.

 

Naturally if the player pays points for the pool he'd better get some use out of it, so the GM needs to be cooperative. But that the same time, the GM can be subtle. The aid will often be invisible and inobvious. The END reserve total is kept hidden. This means that the character takes it on faith that his prayers are really being answered; others in the party may be skeptical, but he knows. Of course sometimes fire falls from heaven as well.

 

The other cool think about Uncontrolled is that the GM can invoke it even when the player doesn't ask for it. This allows "god" to watch the character's back.

 

I GMed a game like this once. It was a bit of work as GM to frequently be responding to prayers and inventing powers on the fly for the VPP. A player knows he has paid points and can get cocky, with a sense of entitlement, and feeling like he has the GM on a leash. If he gets into trouble he may blame the GM for failing to save him. So the GM will need to pace himself, keep the player guessing, and perhaps occasionally dish out lessons in humility. There will have to be trust and cooperation between player and GM to make this work well.

 

The cool thing about this is that it really is faith. The player has to have enough faith in the GM to turn over a huge chunk of points without a guarantee. He'll sometimes lose faith in "god" or think that "god" is being unfair. Other times he'll be riding high and overconfident. Sometimes he'll be able to figure out the miracles, other times he won't be sure but he'll take it on faith that he was helped. The other characters will hear the fanatic praying and then claiming miracles occurred when nothing seemed to happen, and will be realistically skeptical. It makes it easier for all the players to be immersive, makes the magic seem magical and mysterious, and hands the GM dramatic control on a silver platter.

 

(Credit where it's due: this idea came from an old issue of Adventurer's Club. I don't have the citation handy at the moment.)